Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Gods must be Crazy (or Angry)!

Mangos this season, and even the last, were a disappointment. Perhaps global warming had something to do with it, but in any case I miss sinking my teeth into the juicy yellow pulp as frequently as I would have liked to.

Like the mangos, the summer too failed to impress. The usual summer showers were a no show. February came, March went and no sign of a grey cloud in the sky. When I go in summer to Bandipur, I'm usually greeted by the line, "Doctor has come and so has the rains" because the rain always used to follow me to Bandipur in summer and I have a lot of grateful wildlife to vouch for it! This time it was dust storms, not thunder storms (watch for that in the Woodcrawler's Journal later).

The mercury was rising and mid-April saw temperatures hitting the 40s. Not unusual for this time of the year but the heat seemed especially vicious this season. Roads, businesses & even my clinic looked deserted. Who'd want to die of a sun stroke trying to buy a loaf of bread or meet a doctor!

20th April was no different. The crowd in the clinic was thin and I was
through early. As I was updating my Facebook wall I noticed that my room
had gone dark. It was on the east of the building so I was used to the
room being a little less brighter than in the morning. This was not 'the
usual'. It was DARK. It never went dark before 7.00PM on a summer evening. My clock told me it was only 6.20PM. Sensing the weather I stepped out to
be greeted by this brooding sky on the west.

"Oh! Oh!", I thought. "Someone is pretty upset with mankind." I'd not see a sky like this in ages and I knew we were in for something. I sent everyone home and closed up for the day. No point in getting everyone wet for a patient who would never turn up! I was sure nobody would have considered an umbrella or raincoat on a hot summer morning.

I came home and went up on the terrace. The eastern sky was equally menacing in its mood. Surely, I didn't do anything wrong. Why was God so upset?

I was not about to crack my head over God's moods but surely I could record it! I was on the terrace watching when the 'face' of the cloud bank on the east started changing.

Time: 18.28.24 PM

It became darker and just off its center, to the left, there appeared a distinct blob that looked like a knuckle to me.

Time: 18.29.04 PM

Someone was really grumpy today. I watched in fascination as the drama unfolded. The immense power of nature in all its fury was on display over the next few minutes.That knuckle of the cloud slowly gathered itself into a Fist (of Fury?) and clenched itself to throw a punch. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.

Time: 18.29.37 PM

Time: 18.29.49 PM

Time: 18.29.58 PM

Time: 18.30.05 PM

Time: 18.30.09 PM

Time: 18.30.14 PM

Time: 18.30.27 PM

Then at the end of it; BANG!!!

Time: 18.31.09 PM

Surely, the Almighty was not in a good mood this evening. Someone or something had upset the equilibrium and for the next half an hour I was treated to a spectacular display of Heavenly Wrath. It was raining and I was trying to hold an umbrella and shooting at the same time. What you see here is only a little bit of nature's power.

I'm glad I was a witness, and not a victim.

If you think like me, that the Gods were angry, that lightning should have fried me.
Obviously they were upset with something else!

So if you have the habit of testing Gods patience, let this be a lesson for you. Don't get God angry. You never know when he'll fry your **** !!